
On Friday, December 4th at 10:15 AM and again at 11:30 AM, the Discovery Theatre presents Seasons of Light. Celebrate all the world holidays with their biggest show of the year! This event is designed for kids ages 4-12. For tickets and more information, visit: http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?utm_source=VIARC&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=Calendar&tmssource=51850&performanceNumber=218503
Also on Friday, from 10:30-11:30 AM, storyteller Diane Macklin returns to the African Art Museum for Let's Read About Africa. Intended for ages 6 and up, Macklin introduces young audiences to Africa through children's literature by award-winning authors. This event is free to the public.
And still on Friday, at 12 PM and several other times throughout the weekend, the Sackler Gallery brings you Kamishibai Performance by Yassan (Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, Father of Anime). Kamishibai ("paper dramas") are a form of performance popluarized in Japan in the early twentieth century by traveling performers who bicycled from town to town, dazzling children and adults alike with exciting tales illustrated with colorful pictures. Today Yassan, one of its foremost practitioners, travels the world bringing this distinctive folk art to new audiences. He comes to the Freer to celebrate the work and legacy of Osamu Tezuka with a series of performances and workshops.
See Yassan perform "The Golden Bat," an Astro Boy story, and a tale inspired by an incident from Osamu Tezuka's childhood. Performances last approximately 40 minutes. This event is free but space is limited.
On Friday evening, at 7:30, in the Natural History Museum's Baird Auditorium, the Resident Associate's bring you Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Led by Artistic and Musical Director, David N. Baker, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra delves into jazz's greatest works and performers in history in goups, both large and small. This concert features music by Stan Kenton, Duke Ellighton, and Billy Strayhorn. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?utm_source=VIARC&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=Calendar&tmssource=181896&performanceNumber=218128
On Saturday and Sunday, visit the American Indian Museum for the National Museum of the American Indian Art Market. Just in time for the holidays! Meet Native artists and choose gifts from a fine selection of one-of-a-kind, handmade, traditional and contemporary items available for purchase at the
museum's annual art market.
On Saturday, December 5th at 7 AM, join the Resident Associate Program as it departs from 4th St. and Independence Ave. for the Met. Come to the recently reopened American Wing of the Met and understand why stained glass truly is "painting with light" and architecture is "music frozen in time" with tour leaders Sheila Pinsker and Bill Keene. For tickets or more information, visit: http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?utm_source=VIARC&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=Calendar&tmssource=181896&performanceNumber=218803
Also on Saturday, from 11 AM to 2 PM in the Renwick Gallery's Grand Salon you will find the Renwick Holiday Festival. Come in out of the cold and celebrate the winter holiday season. Let the museum's holiday tree - adorned with hand-painted ornaments - inspire you to create your own decorations and seasonal crafts. Decorate an ornament with the help of the Society of Decorative Painters. Warm-up with a cup of hot cider, sit back, and enjoy listening to the Smithsonian Encore Chorale perform songs of the season. This event is free to the public.
And after that, at 2 PM, you could join the Sackler Gallery for ImaginAsia: Seeing the Unseen. What if you had a book that could help you decide if today was safe to ride your bike? Long ago royalty and commoners alike in Turkey and Iran consulted the Falnama for advice and predictions about the future. Use an activity book to examine lavishly illustrated pages from Falnamas for clues, read the omens, and follow the warnings. In the classroom create an amulet for protection and prosperity. This event is free and designed for kids ages 8-14 with an adult companion. This event repeats on Sunday at 2 PM.
Also at 2 PM on Saturday, the Freer Gallery is holding Part Animal, Part Cup: Drinking Vessels from Ancient Iran. Luxurious gold and silver vessels played an important role in Persian court life during the Achaemenid period (550-330bce). The elaborate and enigmatic rhyton combined a horn-shaped vessel with the foreparts of an animal or monster, through whose pierced mouth or chest liquid spouted.
Dr. Susanne Ebbinghaus, the George M.A. Hanfmann Curator of Ancient Art, Harvard University Museum, and Lecturer on the Classics, Harvard University, discusses the spread of this complex drinking vessel as well as other prestigious gift items among elites in the Persian empire and beyond, from the Mediterranean in the west and to Central Asia and China in the east.
Dr. Ebbinghaus speaks on Persepolis: Royal City of Ancient Persia at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, December 3. For more information, visit www.doaks.org.
At 3:45 on Saturday, the Freer Gallery will present The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, Father of Anime). Based on a manga Tezuka created for Sanrio's Rirka magazine, this is the story of a little unicorn who is born with the poser to make anyone he meets happy. Jealous gods condemn him to wander endlessly, with no home and no memories, but Unico's cheerfulness and kindness provide lessons in living in the moment in this heartrending but uplifting fable. (Adapted from notes by H. McCarthy for Osamu Tezuka: Movies into Manga, Barbican Centre, 2008).
Directed by Toshio Hirata/1981/90 min./video/Japanese dubbed in English
This event is free; first come, first served.
And at 4 PM on Saturday, at the American Art Museum, the Resident Associates bring you 21st Century Consort. The 21st Century Consort presents the music of our time in a series of concerts designed to challenge, engage, and enjoy. This concert features music by composers Sebastian Currier and Charles Ives. For tickets or more information, visit http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?utm_source=VIARC&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=Calendar&tmssource=181896&performanceNumber=218137
--Compiled by Sarah Kramer, Studio Arts Intern